LETTER: Time for action to protect honey bees

In honor of Honey Bee Day (Aug. 16), we should honor pollinators critical for two-thirds/3 of our food crops by urging President Obama and federal agencies to enact meaningful and rapid protections for bees.

In the next few months, the president’s new pollinator task force -- led by EPA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture -- will release a plan of action for addressing the massive bee declines threatening food and farmers. One of the most critical steps they can take is to ban the use of pesticides called neonicotinoids, a driving force in this crisis. Scientists around the globe are calling for immediate regulatory action to restrict these pesticides to stop what some are calling a second “Silent Spring.”

It’s time for our leaders to listen. President Obama and his administration must act now to ban these pesticides to protect our environment and economy.